360 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Daniel Webster, in an figricultural address, said : "No man in England is 

 so high as to be independent of this great interest; no man so low as not to 

 be affected by its prosperity or decline. Tlie same is trne, eminently, emphat- 

 ically true with ns. Agriculture feeds: to a great extent it clothes iis. With- 

 out it, we should not have manufactures; we should not have commerce. They 

 all stand together like pillars in a cluster, the largest in the center, and that 

 largest is agriculture." 



A writer on European agriculture some years since, said : "France has made 

 a greater advance in two short years than we (England) have done in twenty. 

 The emperor is doing much by his personal exertions and example to introduce 

 good live stock and to improve the general system of cultivation." 



Why then should we not all take an active interest in the progress and 

 development of our agricultural resources? Our agricultural interests cannot 

 be unduly depressed without injuring all others. The farmers' prosperity 

 means the prosperity of all other pursuits. Every horse of pure blood, every 

 head of thoroughbred stock of any kind brought into this part of the State will 

 aid in the right direction, and will add in a few years thousands of dollars to 

 the wealth of our county. 



Why, then, should not men of every trade and profession, as a matter of 

 personal interest and duty, give active aid and encouragement in tiiis direction? 



Citizens of the Saginaw valley, let us make a strong and united effort to 

 settle and improve our agricultural lands. With our present railroad facilities, 

 running in all directions; with the prospect of a road being speedily construct- 

 ed through the Upper Peninsula, thus opening a new and superior market for 

 our surplus products, and connecting us with the great northwest; located 

 upon the great lakes, wdiich afford us the means of cheap transportation, which 

 give us the cool invigorating breeze during the hot summer montlis, and soften 

 the cold piercing blasts of winter, enabling us to raise fruits that cannot stand 

 a more rigid climate to the south of us; with the supply of pine yet tributary 

 to our mills, our saline de])osits, or coal mines in process of development ; with 

 a soil rich, fertile, and productive ; with our system of common scliools, under 

 which none need grow up in ignorance, why should we not take advantage of 

 our superior situation and make an earnest and united effort to at least double 

 the wealtli and ])opulation of our noble valley during the next decade? To the 

 emigrant seeking a home we offer not alone the above as inducements. We 

 offer him a home in a State second to none in point of intelligence, where law 

 and order prevail, thus affording protection to all in the peaceful enjoyment of 

 their possessions. We offer liim a climate subject to no destroying pestilence, 

 and a land free from the locust's jjlague ; where honest toil receives its sure 

 reward in bountiful harvests, which bring remunerative prices; where the sons 

 and daughters of the rich and poor alike may j^ass from our common to our 

 high schools, and from thence enter our Agricultural College or our State Uni- 

 versity, and there receive the benetits of a higher education, wisely placed 

 within the reach and means of all. We offer them a home in a State which 

 makes ample provision for the destitute and the unfortunate : where institu- 

 tions for the deaf, the dumb, and the insane are fostered : and where all may 

 return thanks and render j)rai>:e to the Almighty without fear of molestation. 



May the State ever thus be prosperous and blessed ; may we, each and all, to 

 the extent of our several ability, assist in bringing this our beautiful valley up 

 to that standard of excellence, not alone in agriculture, but in all the various 

 pursuits, which united, insure the highest degree of prosperity and happiness 

 to mankind. 



